Tear it Down: New York’s LaGuardia Once-Dubbed ‘Third World’ to be Rebuilt Under $4 Billion Plan

It was just last year that Vice President Joe Biden called New York’s LaGuardia Airport “Third World,” a description that every traveler who has crossed through the beyond-repair airport has thought. Yesterday, though, Biden and Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the airport will be torn down and rebuilt into a state-of-the-art airport—a transportation hub worthy of the late, great Mayor La Guardia. The $4 billion project will reduce flight delays, add public transportation (including an AirTrain and ferry service), among a slew of other improvements. “This is what New Yorkers deserve and have deserved for a long time. And now we’re going to get it,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “There is no way to fix this. We need to literally tear it down and rebuild it. It’s not a plan, not a sketch, not a dream, not a vision, it is actually happening. New York had an aggressive, can-do approach to big infrastructure in the past — and today, we’re moving forward with that attitude once again.”